A not-so-early start the next day, firstly getting a local bus to the main bus terminal (a tiny little minivan from the beachfront, which was a tad awkward with our big rucksacks). Then a cheap mainline bus direct to Cartagena. Although the bus was an hour late in arriving, it was super comfy and made up a good bit of the time on the way, getting us to Cartagena in the late-afternoon nicely before dark.
Sarah did a great job of checking out a good number of central hostels. We'd been warned that Cartagena was an expensive place, so we wanted to try and get the best deal we could as we expected to be staying a few days. Luckily we found a really cheap place that was clean, had a fan, was central and was quite (Hotel Santander). OK, so it was also extremely basic, in fact our room felt at times like sleeping in a hay barn due to the really high ceiling and corrugated iron roof!
So once we'd settled in there we checked out the town a wee bit before meeting up with our Ozzie mate Glen, who we first met in Cusco and then again in Lima. Glen regularly meets some local ex-pats in a bar near our hotel, so we joined them all there.
The next couple of days we just strolled about the town. We managed to swap both our South America guidebooks for Central America ones, which was a great relief as guidebooks are mad expensive to buy. I also booked flights to Panama (I liked the idea of sailing there, but it takes too long and costs too much - there seems to be a fixed price for the trip, with no competition amongst the various boats for some reason). The flights were frighteningly expensive too (all relative of course), but there is no easy, quick overland route into Central America due to the vast wildness of the Darien Gap.
Anyway, Cartagena is a famously beautiful place alright, and I grew to like it more and more. I think that Cusco in Peru has a nicer central district though, probably as it's been exposed to tourism for a lot longer. Cartagena's old town has gorgeous streets with lots of flowering balconies, but every street will also have at least one or two houses that could use a fresh lick of paint. But I'm sure in years to come it will continue to improve, as there are lots of big cruise ships arriving there now, and their mostly elderly passengers roam about the city in big packs (leading to lots of hawkers hassling every gringo in sight, which is the inevitable consequence I suppose).
Unfortunately a few of the supposedly good museums were quite pricey, so we've skipped them (as we've seen lots of museums in South America already) - but at least the gold museum was free, and that was quite good.
Our last full day was spent meeting Glen for lunch (in the excellent Swiss restaurant, after he'd already introduced us to the lovely German-run Bistro), a good bit more strolling around with Glen as our guide, and then meeting the ex-pats again in what had become our regular evening haunt of Donde Pacho's.
The next morning was nice and relaxed, and we got a bus to the airport quite early in the afternoon. It's only a 10 minute journey as the airport seems to be right in the city. We weren't sure about exit taxes and the like, but luckily we didn't have to pay any, and after a bit of a worry when the check-in girl asked about onward flights from Panama (you can be stopped entering the country if you don't have onward tickets), we boarded without problems and were off to Central America.
So six months in South America, and definitely some great trip highlights. Iguasu Falls, morcillo sausages in Argentina, the cakes of Brazil (I'm thinking of Fellini's restaurant in particular), the incredible ruins all around Cusco (especially Machu Picchu but also Cusco town itself), the bluest skies I've ever seen in Bolivia, the mine in Potosi, the Galapagos islands...
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Tayrona National Park
We got up early to grab breakfast and a basic lunch before hopping on the local bus (yet again, the bus was pulling away as we arrived and we literally hopped onboard). As the guidebook pointed out, we got off the bus early and then started walking the entire hike from Calabazo towards the normal entry point of El Zaino (as opposed to starting at El Zaino, hiking to the beach, and then back-tracking to the start again - I hate backtracking!).
This way we managed to avoid any crowds, and in fact we only passed a handful of other people all day (mostly locals leading donkeys leaden with sacks of coconuts). The highlight of the whole hike for me was the leaf-cutting ant colonies we passed almost constantly along the whole route. These guys really are amazing, and I stopped repeatedly to try and get good photos, and to just sit and stare at them. I remember seeing documentaries back home on these critters, and so I knew a fair bit about their amazing live cycle. So it was great to be able to just stop and watch them go about their work - we passed entrances to nests, their waste disposal systems and of course millions of the wee workers themselves carrying their leaf bits.
The hike is noted for the beaches it passes along, and the first one we arrived at was the best one, La Cabo. By this stage we'd hiked up to the pre-hispanic town of La Pueblito (which didn't have much stuff to see unfortunately, or people milling about fortunately), and the day was beautifully sunny and therefore fiercely hot. Arriving at the beach I was straight into the water to try and cool off, but I think this must have been the warmest sea water I've ever swam in. Strangely it was a bit disappointing really, as what I really wanted was an icy, refreshing dip. But of course, it was still gorgeouos to swim in the Carribean sea and the setting was really cool, with two crescent beaches together and big boulders strewn along the coastline.
We got back to the main road at about 5:30, just as dusk was setting, so we'd timed it perfectly really. It had been a long hot day, but the forest, the beaches and the ants all made for a cracking day out, and of course a local bus came along to take us back to Santa Marta after one of our longest waits yet, all of about 5 minutes!
This way we managed to avoid any crowds, and in fact we only passed a handful of other people all day (mostly locals leading donkeys leaden with sacks of coconuts). The highlight of the whole hike for me was the leaf-cutting ant colonies we passed almost constantly along the whole route. These guys really are amazing, and I stopped repeatedly to try and get good photos, and to just sit and stare at them. I remember seeing documentaries back home on these critters, and so I knew a fair bit about their amazing live cycle. So it was great to be able to just stop and watch them go about their work - we passed entrances to nests, their waste disposal systems and of course millions of the wee workers themselves carrying their leaf bits.
The hike is noted for the beaches it passes along, and the first one we arrived at was the best one, La Cabo. By this stage we'd hiked up to the pre-hispanic town of La Pueblito (which didn't have much stuff to see unfortunately, or people milling about fortunately), and the day was beautifully sunny and therefore fiercely hot. Arriving at the beach I was straight into the water to try and cool off, but I think this must have been the warmest sea water I've ever swam in. Strangely it was a bit disappointing really, as what I really wanted was an icy, refreshing dip. But of course, it was still gorgeouos to swim in the Carribean sea and the setting was really cool, with two crescent beaches together and big boulders strewn along the coastline.
We got back to the main road at about 5:30, just as dusk was setting, so we'd timed it perfectly really. It had been a long hot day, but the forest, the beaches and the ants all made for a cracking day out, and of course a local bus came along to take us back to Santa Marta after one of our longest waits yet, all of about 5 minutes!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Santa Marta and diving from Taganga
So we arrived at midday in Santa Marta, a nice convenient time, and just hopped on a local bus into the town centre (the driver of which was a tad cheeky and tried to overcharge, but we saw two girls hop onto the bus and pay half what we were told, so Sarah impressively told him we'd only pay the same - he kinda agreed just laughing it off, kinda!).
Anyway, after the usual checking of a few places we settled into the wonderfully cheap Hostel Meda, with our own bathroom and powerful fan. That fan was certainly necessary as the temperature here was a perfect 30C, and so once we dumped the bags and had a shower it was time to check out the town.
It's actually quite a grubby town I reckon, but has a fairly decent beach and a good bit of life to it (on a Saturday anyway).
After the long bus journey from Bogota, we both slept late that night, and so the next day was a fairly lazy affair. I wanted to use the internet for a good bit to try and plan some our Central American options, but the place closed at 2pm. So instead I decided to get the bus to the nearby fishing village of Taganga to check out scuba diving.
Taganga was also a bit grubby in my opinion, and the beach here was dirty (with lots of broken glass even!), narrow and very noisy with bars along it pumping our extraordinarily loud 'music' (although the beach is quite long and the setting with the surrounding hills is nice). There are loads of scuba operators here, but the nicest place also happened to be the cheapest (a Belgian guy and his Colombian wife, who operate from their house, with their 2-year old son wandering around the place in his nappy as I'm filling in PADI waiver forms and the like).
So the following morning we arrive back in Taganga at 8am and head off for my two dives. It was just me and the divemaster for the dives (Sarah snorkelling), and the weather was spot-on, so the visibility was fairly OK at about 12m-14m. Lots of nice coral and colouredy fishys, big morays, tiny spider crabs, lobsters, etc., but the best part was having such a calm, lovely smooth drift current - all my previous dives on this trip in Africa, Brazil, the Galapagos I had swells or nasty currents, so this was a real pleasure I must say. Although I did lose my divemaster half-way into the first dive when I swam off to check out a huge puffer fish. When I turned back I couldn't see the divemaster at all as he'd turned around a rock face and I'd been carried along by the current, and so after looking around for a bit I had to surface, be rescued by another boat and eventually re-united with the divemaster again before going back down again with him!
The little village of Taganga is nicer than Santa Marta, but the beach still has loads of rubbish and lots of broken glass and is very pebbley, all very grubby really. But the beach of Playa Grande, only about 20 minutes walk over a small headland is a lot cleaner and therefore a lot better, so we had lunch there. It was a public hoilday too, so lots of people with kiddies, but actually I liked the lively atmosphere.
Tomorrow is hiking in the nearby Tayrona National Park, so looking forward to that, as the heat should make it a nice challenging day out...
Anyway, after the usual checking of a few places we settled into the wonderfully cheap Hostel Meda, with our own bathroom and powerful fan. That fan was certainly necessary as the temperature here was a perfect 30C, and so once we dumped the bags and had a shower it was time to check out the town.
It's actually quite a grubby town I reckon, but has a fairly decent beach and a good bit of life to it (on a Saturday anyway).
After the long bus journey from Bogota, we both slept late that night, and so the next day was a fairly lazy affair. I wanted to use the internet for a good bit to try and plan some our Central American options, but the place closed at 2pm. So instead I decided to get the bus to the nearby fishing village of Taganga to check out scuba diving.
Taganga was also a bit grubby in my opinion, and the beach here was dirty (with lots of broken glass even!), narrow and very noisy with bars along it pumping our extraordinarily loud 'music' (although the beach is quite long and the setting with the surrounding hills is nice). There are loads of scuba operators here, but the nicest place also happened to be the cheapest (a Belgian guy and his Colombian wife, who operate from their house, with their 2-year old son wandering around the place in his nappy as I'm filling in PADI waiver forms and the like).
So the following morning we arrive back in Taganga at 8am and head off for my two dives. It was just me and the divemaster for the dives (Sarah snorkelling), and the weather was spot-on, so the visibility was fairly OK at about 12m-14m. Lots of nice coral and colouredy fishys, big morays, tiny spider crabs, lobsters, etc., but the best part was having such a calm, lovely smooth drift current - all my previous dives on this trip in Africa, Brazil, the Galapagos I had swells or nasty currents, so this was a real pleasure I must say. Although I did lose my divemaster half-way into the first dive when I swam off to check out a huge puffer fish. When I turned back I couldn't see the divemaster at all as he'd turned around a rock face and I'd been carried along by the current, and so after looking around for a bit I had to surface, be rescued by another boat and eventually re-united with the divemaster again before going back down again with him!
The little village of Taganga is nicer than Santa Marta, but the beach still has loads of rubbish and lots of broken glass and is very pebbley, all very grubby really. But the beach of Playa Grande, only about 20 minutes walk over a small headland is a lot cleaner and therefore a lot better, so we had lunch there. It was a public hoilday too, so lots of people with kiddies, but actually I liked the lively atmosphere.
Tomorrow is hiking in the nearby Tayrona National Park, so looking forward to that, as the heat should make it a nice challenging day out...
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Bogota
Well, our journey to Bogota turned out to be one of the very, very few major delays on the whole trip so far. The landslide we'd been told about at the bus terminal managed to hold up our bus for a good 3.5 hours, and then when we did start moving we crawled along due to the tailbacks. In the end the supposedly 7 hour journey took about 12 hours.
But it wasn't so bad at all - the bus left the terminal pretty much on time, but only got 15 minutes down the road before hitting the police roadblock where we had to wait for the blockages to be cleared. Luckily we'd stopped at a group of small restaurants, so we just got out of the bus and had a snack and a drink.
After waiting around in the cafe for a couple of hours it was kinda lunchtime, so we moved to a nicer restaurant just up the road to have lunch and relax a bit more before reboarding the bus and heading off. The traffic tailbacks made our progress rather stuttered, as we'd move well for 15 minutes, then be held up for 20 minutes, then move for a good bit again before the next holdup. Anyway, the lush green mountainous scenery really did help pass the time, and in fact it was a pity the we were so badly delayed as the scenery was still very impressive when darkness fell about 5:30pm.
It meant we arrived at Bogota bus terminal at 10:15pm (which at least meant there was no city traffic to hold us up even further at this time on a Sunday night), but we were both too tired to bother with our usual local buses into the city centre, so we opted for a dreaded taxi. Luckily here in Bogota though the taxis are very well regulated and so you first tell a girl at a counter the address you want to go to and she gives you a slip of paper for the driver with the price firmly fixed - so no chance of us getting ripped off. Every major city's bus terminals and airports should have this system!
Again due to the total lack of traffic we zipped into the centre (9km away) and found our hostel easily. It was a relatively expensive place compared to everywhere else we've stayed in Colombia, but luckily Sarah had had the foresight to ring a few hostels earlier that morning (knowing we'd be arriving late at night), and we knew this was the cheapest option of those mentioned in the guidebooks.
Anyway, I immediately had a very welcome hot shower - Sarah had told the receptionist in our hostel in Armenia that one of the electric wires for our shower was broken, even though I told her not to mention it as you just had to manually fix the wires together (dangerous of course, but not if you were careful). Naturally, as I had feared, they then removed the electric shower head completely when we were out, and so we had no hot water at all that night or the following morning (they told us it would be replaced later that day, but we were leaving early).
So the next morning, after a fantastic sleep we did our usual city exploration. I really liked Bogota immediately, as our hostel was right in the middle of the old town and was surrounded by nice cafes and restaurants, and a lot of students milling about, which of course gave the cafes a vibrant bustling liveliness.
Most days we visited the excellent museums, with the gold museum being the best (apparently it's one of, if not the, most important gold museums in the world). Also interesting was the police museum, with it's ground floor section dedicated to the hunt and killing of the famous drug overlord Pablo Escobar (a dedicated unit of 500 police officiers hunted him for 2 years). We had a lovely young police officier guy as our free guide - in Colombia everyone has to do compulsory service, either 2 years in the miliary or 1 year in the police, and our guide was nearly finished his year of service and was about to head to Belfast to study medicine (so he was keen to practice his English, asking us things like what does 'posh nosh' and 'namby pamby' mean!).
We took a day-trip out to see a famous cathedral carved out of a salt mine about 50km outside the city in Zipaquira (there is a bigger salt mine and cathedral outside Krakow in Poland that I should have visited when I was there with Mullins, but someone at the time told us not to bother or something, d'oh!). It was easy-peasy to get the excellent, but crowded, Transmelio bus to it's terminus (although we had to kill time on the Internet waiting for the first bus at 9am), and then an instant connection on a local bus to the town of Zipaquira. A bit of aimless wandering through the nice small town finally got us to the site of the cathedral in the outskirts of the town.
We had a great English-speaking guide, and the tour lasted about an hour, passing the 14 stations of the cross, each carved directly from the salt of the mountain, before arriving at the vast cavern of the cathedral 180 metres below the surface. All very impressive indeed, although the 3D video show at the end was a bit naff.
On the way back to Bogota I wanted to stop off at a place called Chia to check out a famous restaurant that both our guidebooks highly recommended. It was all a bit of an ordeal in the end though, as it took us a while to find the small bus terminal in Zipaquira, and then the local bus only dropped us on the outskirts of Chia. I walked around for a good bit trying to make sense of the street numbering system, but that turned out to be a fruitless exercise in utter fustration. I was pretty annoyed that the guy on the bus had mislead us (we were obviously tourists but the bus didn't go anywhere near the centre of Chia, which was obviously where we wanted to go - instead they'd dropped on the main highway on the outskirts of the town). Anyway, after another local bus to the centre, and then more aimless wandering trying to get our bearings again and asking various clueless locals for directions (always a dodgey thing to do as you can never trust the answers, even if we could understand the language), we finally found the restaurant.
Luckily both the guidebooks were right - it really is a fun place. It's all a bit mental really, although the website does a good job of capturing a sense of it. It's a huge, sprawling, darkly lit cavern of a place, with every inch of it covering in nonsensical tat and junk that makes it feel a tiny bit like an old Irish pub down the country, but on a much bigger and madder scale.
It's also a very expensive place, although it doesn't seem to cater much for tourists (menu was only in Spanish, and none of the many waiters or waitresses spoke English - they had to get the manager to explain some of the local deserts to us). But it's famous for it's meat, and our fillet mignon was superb (I also ordered another morcillo, the Argentinian black pudding, but it still wasn't as good as the real Argy ones I've had - definitely one of the foods I'll miss big time from this whole trip). After getting lost again on the way back to the local bus terminal (!), we managed quite easily to get back to our hostel.
Once back in familiar territory we had a much needed drink in the very cool Cafe Pasaje again (another top spot mentioned in the Footprints guidebook, but not the Lonely Planet, with a very good description here (that guy tried to sell us his musty books both times we were there, and we also had 2 sets of emerald dealers sitting either side of us the first time)), and then a bit of a stroll while Sarah went home to bed.
Next morning was lazy enough as the buses to Santa Marta in the north all left in the afternoon, so we strolled around to another hostel that we knew had a book exchange (I got the excellent SuperCapitalism, which I'd recommend to anyone). Then we had time for a leisurely smoothie before trying to get a local bus to the bus terminal. After waiting on the supposedly correct street for about half-an-hour we gave up and just got a taxi - I think the normal traffic was diverted or something and so buses to the terminal were also diverted, but we couldn't understand the taxi drivers explanation, so god knows...
We hadn't booked onward travel, as usual, but we only had a couple of hours to wait for a bus (and the fare was half-price, as they are always negotiable when you just show up). So after killing more time on the Internet and a nice tripe soup for lunch (which, of course, Sarah wouldn't touch!), we boarded the bus, which left right on time. 21 hours later we arrived in hot and clammy Santa Marta on the North Colombian carribean coast. I felt surprisingly fresh after the overnight journey, we both seem to be well used to the long bus journeys now.
We hadn't booked onward travel, as usual, but we only had a couple of hours to wait for a bus (and the fare was half-price, as they are always negotiable when you just show up). So after killing more time on the Internet and a nice tripe soup for lunch (which, of course, Sarah wouldn't touch!), we boarded the bus, which left right on time. 21 hours later we arrived in hot and clammy Santa Marta on the North Colombian carribean coast. I felt surprisingly fresh after the overnight journey, we both seem to be well used to the long bus journeys now.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Armenia
We arrived in Armenia in the late afternoon and after checking a taxi (who of course tried to rip us off), we strolled into the town instead and got settled in Hotel Los Viajeros.
Next day we visited the Parque National del Cafe, which is supposed to be all about coffee but is really just a big amusement park. It's very well laid out though, being impressively manicured and set discreetly within a forest on a hillside. We got a short tour from a lovely guide who explained the basics of coffee production, which was all very interesting. The park also has a couple of lovely walks, one through mad huge bamboo groves and another through various varieties of coffee plants.
We rode the rollercoaster too, which was brilliant, if a little short (we probably should have taken it for a second spin really). And of course I had to try a couple of coffee's, both lovely and the second one from a fantastic view over the valley of coffee and banana plantations, with Armenia in the distance.
I also got to see my first ever sloth here - although I'm pretty sure it was being kept as a pet. It was just hanging by 3 of it's feet from a chain-link fence eating a tropical fruit from it's other hand. After asking the girl standing beside him I was allowed pet him and he seemed completely unperturbed. He did that sloth-thing of actually falling alseep a couple of times whilst he was eating, each time just for about 20 seconds or so, then waking up and eating a bit more, all gorgeously cute of course.
The next day we got a short bus ride to the town of Salento, a lovely little market town set in the mountains. We climbed the 260 steps up to a lookout (the books say one of the best viewpoints in all of Colombia), but the weather was dark and overcast, and so the view didn't seem like much.
After a lovely trout lunch (there is a trout farm nearby), we took a jeep to Cocora and hiked 5km through wax palm forest (one of the tallest trees in the world), to a reserve set deep in the forest. It has a cover charge, but you get a hot chocolate and a lump of cheese (weird really), and just relax watching all the hummingbirds coming to drink and feed - apparently there are 6 species here, but we only saw 4, one of which had an amazingly long, iridescent blue tail.
Next morning we got up early and took the bus to the terminal for a bus to Bogota. But when we arrived we were told that there was a landslide on the main road, and so most of the buses were taking a longer, more roundabout route (Sarah actually felt an earthquake at 4am, but I slept right through it). Anyway, the cheapest bus company is hoping the road will be clear by the time it gets there, and I wanted to travel the main road anyway as it passes through a stunning valley, so hopefully it'll all work out...
Next day we visited the Parque National del Cafe, which is supposed to be all about coffee but is really just a big amusement park. It's very well laid out though, being impressively manicured and set discreetly within a forest on a hillside. We got a short tour from a lovely guide who explained the basics of coffee production, which was all very interesting. The park also has a couple of lovely walks, one through mad huge bamboo groves and another through various varieties of coffee plants.
We rode the rollercoaster too, which was brilliant, if a little short (we probably should have taken it for a second spin really). And of course I had to try a couple of coffee's, both lovely and the second one from a fantastic view over the valley of coffee and banana plantations, with Armenia in the distance.
I also got to see my first ever sloth here - although I'm pretty sure it was being kept as a pet. It was just hanging by 3 of it's feet from a chain-link fence eating a tropical fruit from it's other hand. After asking the girl standing beside him I was allowed pet him and he seemed completely unperturbed. He did that sloth-thing of actually falling alseep a couple of times whilst he was eating, each time just for about 20 seconds or so, then waking up and eating a bit more, all gorgeously cute of course.
The next day we got a short bus ride to the town of Salento, a lovely little market town set in the mountains. We climbed the 260 steps up to a lookout (the books say one of the best viewpoints in all of Colombia), but the weather was dark and overcast, and so the view didn't seem like much.
After a lovely trout lunch (there is a trout farm nearby), we took a jeep to Cocora and hiked 5km through wax palm forest (one of the tallest trees in the world), to a reserve set deep in the forest. It has a cover charge, but you get a hot chocolate and a lump of cheese (weird really), and just relax watching all the hummingbirds coming to drink and feed - apparently there are 6 species here, but we only saw 4, one of which had an amazingly long, iridescent blue tail.
Next morning we got up early and took the bus to the terminal for a bus to Bogota. But when we arrived we were told that there was a landslide on the main road, and so most of the buses were taking a longer, more roundabout route (Sarah actually felt an earthquake at 4am, but I slept right through it). Anyway, the cheapest bus company is hoping the road will be clear by the time it gets there, and I wanted to travel the main road anyway as it passes through a stunning valley, so hopefully it'll all work out...
Cali
Cali is quite a big city really, but we got a cheap place to stay (Residencial Chalet) in the livelier part of town (very near Avenue 6), but really there wasn't much to see in the city itself. The main art museum was closed for renovations, but the gold museum was impressive (the northern countries of South America all seem to have very impressive gold museums, or sections of museums, and to think I used to be impressed with the gold torcs and stuff in the National Irish Museum!).
We also visited the Cali zoo, apparently the best in Colombia, and it was very good (I do have the usual problems with zoos of course, but I still loving visiting the good ones). It was undergoing renovations too, but was still impressive, especially the big cats - the bengal tiger was quite active and would rest leaning against the huge thick plate glass viewing window, so you could be literally millimetres from his face. Also got to see a snake swallow a mouse, which was interesting (another, much bigger snake had a live rat in it's cage, but the snake didn't budge an inch so can't have been too hungry). Also got to see my first giant anteater (with a juvenile on her back), and they really are as mad looking as they appear on the telly.
As I was coming back to the end of the zoo trail it started to really rain hard. We waited for a break in the rain, along with a group of locals, but it didn't seem like letting up any time soon, so we just hopped in a taxi and got dropped off at the Intercontinental Hotel where I was hoping they'd have a bar showing the US presedential election. The hotel didn't have a bar really, just an open cafe space, but the waiter kindly put on CNN for us. After watching a bit of the election coverage we went and had dinner in the hotel's recommended restaurant, as I was keen to try their steak tartare. It was pretty cool, as the head waiter prepared it all beside our table, and so I got a cooking lesson into the bargain (and I was very surprised to see the amount of work and ingredients involved, I had thought it was just raw meat and an egg!). Anyway, it was very nice but still not as good as the first steak tartare I ever had, which was with Mr. Mullins in Slovakia somewhere.
The next day we got the bus to the village of Cordoba and then did what seemed like the most dangerous thing I've done on the trip so far - we rode the old railway line to San Cipriano. The tracks aren't used anymore by trains or anything, instead the locals have rigged up small motorbikes to ramshackle crates and boot it down the line - good 1 minute video on YouTube here. The poorer locals don't have motorbikes, they just push themselves along on flat crates, and when you meet someone coming the other way, one of you has to lift your crate off the tracks to let the other person pass, something we had to do a few times. The ride only lasts about 15 minutes, but the location is really beautiful, set in lush jungley forest.
The tiny town of San Cipriano itself is very rural and poor, but all the more charming for it. It's set on a nice river (but it was too overcast, dull and cool to have a swim unfortunately), and after a short stroll we hid from the short, but tropically fierce rain burst having a beer before getting our crate back down the line (it's the only access route to the village). The tracks cross over a few rickety bridges, and given the rickety state of the crates, the decrepit motorbikes, and the wobbly tracks sometimes, it really is a wonder people aren't injured every day. It's great fun though, and by the time we were heading back I was already far more relaxed - as usual it doesn't take much to overcome the usual paranoia.
I must say I loved the experience of the whole day, even though the bus took over 3 hours each way from Cali (there were major roadworks). For some reason the whole area is populated completely with black people, and I immediately felt like we were back in Africa (even the landscape was all very Ugandan). It was weird just how familiar the people seemed, with all the kids just as smiley, friendly, approachable and interactive as in Africa - I think I must be some kind of upside-down or reverse racist or something!
Anyway, after a final stroll around Cali to the nicely set San Antonio church we left in the afternoon for the 3 hour bus ride up to Colombia's main coffee zone and the town of Armenia.
We also visited the Cali zoo, apparently the best in Colombia, and it was very good (I do have the usual problems with zoos of course, but I still loving visiting the good ones). It was undergoing renovations too, but was still impressive, especially the big cats - the bengal tiger was quite active and would rest leaning against the huge thick plate glass viewing window, so you could be literally millimetres from his face. Also got to see a snake swallow a mouse, which was interesting (another, much bigger snake had a live rat in it's cage, but the snake didn't budge an inch so can't have been too hungry). Also got to see my first giant anteater (with a juvenile on her back), and they really are as mad looking as they appear on the telly.
As I was coming back to the end of the zoo trail it started to really rain hard. We waited for a break in the rain, along with a group of locals, but it didn't seem like letting up any time soon, so we just hopped in a taxi and got dropped off at the Intercontinental Hotel where I was hoping they'd have a bar showing the US presedential election. The hotel didn't have a bar really, just an open cafe space, but the waiter kindly put on CNN for us. After watching a bit of the election coverage we went and had dinner in the hotel's recommended restaurant, as I was keen to try their steak tartare. It was pretty cool, as the head waiter prepared it all beside our table, and so I got a cooking lesson into the bargain (and I was very surprised to see the amount of work and ingredients involved, I had thought it was just raw meat and an egg!). Anyway, it was very nice but still not as good as the first steak tartare I ever had, which was with Mr. Mullins in Slovakia somewhere.
The next day we got the bus to the village of Cordoba and then did what seemed like the most dangerous thing I've done on the trip so far - we rode the old railway line to San Cipriano. The tracks aren't used anymore by trains or anything, instead the locals have rigged up small motorbikes to ramshackle crates and boot it down the line - good 1 minute video on YouTube here. The poorer locals don't have motorbikes, they just push themselves along on flat crates, and when you meet someone coming the other way, one of you has to lift your crate off the tracks to let the other person pass, something we had to do a few times. The ride only lasts about 15 minutes, but the location is really beautiful, set in lush jungley forest.
The tiny town of San Cipriano itself is very rural and poor, but all the more charming for it. It's set on a nice river (but it was too overcast, dull and cool to have a swim unfortunately), and after a short stroll we hid from the short, but tropically fierce rain burst having a beer before getting our crate back down the line (it's the only access route to the village). The tracks cross over a few rickety bridges, and given the rickety state of the crates, the decrepit motorbikes, and the wobbly tracks sometimes, it really is a wonder people aren't injured every day. It's great fun though, and by the time we were heading back I was already far more relaxed - as usual it doesn't take much to overcome the usual paranoia.
I must say I loved the experience of the whole day, even though the bus took over 3 hours each way from Cali (there were major roadworks). For some reason the whole area is populated completely with black people, and I immediately felt like we were back in Africa (even the landscape was all very Ugandan). It was weird just how familiar the people seemed, with all the kids just as smiley, friendly, approachable and interactive as in Africa - I think I must be some kind of upside-down or reverse racist or something!
Anyway, after a final stroll around Cali to the nicely set San Antonio church we left in the afternoon for the 3 hour bus ride up to Colombia's main coffee zone and the town of Armenia.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
San Agustin
Up at 5am, and at the bus station for 5:45 to buy our ticket (the discount we had been offered 2 days ago suddenly disappearing now!), and the bus actually left at 6:10am. The journey from start to finish was along very bumpy and narrow roads. But the seats were very comfy (although I had to change seats after mine reclined uncomfortably far, and I couldn't get it to go back), so I didn't mind the 6 hour journey at all really. Luckily there was very little traffic on the road and so we arrived pretty much on time, and the rain that had been persistent throughout the whole day had stopped by the time we arrived.
I must say that the Colombian scenery we've driven through from the Ecuadorian border has probably been the best so far in all of South America. At times it reminds of parts of New Zealand, but really it's been a good bit more spectacular (as New Zealand doesn't have peaks to rival the Andes), and at other times the lush green-ness reminds me of Uganda, but again it's been more spectacular that that too. It's just been a bit of a pity that the skies have more often than not been overcast, otherwise I'm sure the vistas would certainly rank as the best of the whole trip.
Anyway, the town of San Agustin was actually in the middle of a busy local horse-related festival, but we got a lovely room in a lovely house owned by a lovely old couple, who just happen to have about 20 exotic birds in various cages just outside our room (I've no idea if these birds are legal or not, as they all looked very exotic, but at least they don't make a racket early in the morning, and they sure are pretty!).
So after lunch (at Brahmas), we checked out the local festival that seemed to be much like any small rural village festival back home, mostly argicultural stuff relating to cattle and horses - and very, very load music from a group of tents with drunk lads just sitting around. I reckon most of the action must have happened in the early morning, as by late afternoon it was fairly deserted.
But wow what a day we had the next day! We got up early to catch a gorgeous quick breakfast (a spherical fried doughnut thing and a yogurt) and then hike the 3km to the main archaeological site here. Basically it's made up of a series of stone statues carved by some mysterious culture maybe 1500 years ago, and then buried and covered up. The archaeologists have dug up a good number of them now (but by no means all of them), and have placed them standing upright beside the 'graves' they were buried in.
So it was a lovely stroll around the 4 main sites (although at first I was a bit perturbed by the sight of 3 big tour groups of about 30 people each, but we lost them easily enough and had most of the sites all to ourselves).
Then it was back towards the town to a highly recommended restaurant for lunch, where I had probably the best roast pork I've ever tasted. The place is famous for this dish, as they use a 'secret ' marinade or something, but it sure was the tenderest, and tastiest pork I've ever tried (mad to think that in years to come I would probably make the same bone-shattering journey back to this small town just for this restaurant, as opposed to the world-famous archaeological site just up the road!).
After our huge lunch (we just shared a set lunch, and I was still stuffed after it), it was another big hike, this time to 4 more remote sites of more statues scattered around the town. This was the highlight of the day for me really, as the hike was through great scenery once we got off the main road - basically the trail is used mostly by guided horse-riding groups, but I much preferred to hike it (but only because I'd need a good few more proper lessons to feel really comfortable on a horse). We passed by small coffee plantations and at one stage as we crossed a small stream we were surrounded by little swarms of beautifully diverse butterflies, and later we had a couple of gorgeous small parrots or parakeets follow us along the trail.
We were blessed with the weather too. The previous day it had been lashing rain for almost our entire bus journey to San Agustin, but for our hike it was dry and nicely hot. It started lightly raining as we approached the town, but by then it was a nicely refreshing.
So the following morning it was another 6am bus, this time passing back past through Popayan and up North to the salsa capital of the world (apparently), Cali.
I must say that the Colombian scenery we've driven through from the Ecuadorian border has probably been the best so far in all of South America. At times it reminds of parts of New Zealand, but really it's been a good bit more spectacular (as New Zealand doesn't have peaks to rival the Andes), and at other times the lush green-ness reminds me of Uganda, but again it's been more spectacular that that too. It's just been a bit of a pity that the skies have more often than not been overcast, otherwise I'm sure the vistas would certainly rank as the best of the whole trip.
Anyway, the town of San Agustin was actually in the middle of a busy local horse-related festival, but we got a lovely room in a lovely house owned by a lovely old couple, who just happen to have about 20 exotic birds in various cages just outside our room (I've no idea if these birds are legal or not, as they all looked very exotic, but at least they don't make a racket early in the morning, and they sure are pretty!).
So after lunch (at Brahmas), we checked out the local festival that seemed to be much like any small rural village festival back home, mostly argicultural stuff relating to cattle and horses - and very, very load music from a group of tents with drunk lads just sitting around. I reckon most of the action must have happened in the early morning, as by late afternoon it was fairly deserted.
But wow what a day we had the next day! We got up early to catch a gorgeous quick breakfast (a spherical fried doughnut thing and a yogurt) and then hike the 3km to the main archaeological site here. Basically it's made up of a series of stone statues carved by some mysterious culture maybe 1500 years ago, and then buried and covered up. The archaeologists have dug up a good number of them now (but by no means all of them), and have placed them standing upright beside the 'graves' they were buried in.
So it was a lovely stroll around the 4 main sites (although at first I was a bit perturbed by the sight of 3 big tour groups of about 30 people each, but we lost them easily enough and had most of the sites all to ourselves).
Then it was back towards the town to a highly recommended restaurant for lunch, where I had probably the best roast pork I've ever tasted. The place is famous for this dish, as they use a 'secret ' marinade or something, but it sure was the tenderest, and tastiest pork I've ever tried (mad to think that in years to come I would probably make the same bone-shattering journey back to this small town just for this restaurant, as opposed to the world-famous archaeological site just up the road!).
After our huge lunch (we just shared a set lunch, and I was still stuffed after it), it was another big hike, this time to 4 more remote sites of more statues scattered around the town. This was the highlight of the day for me really, as the hike was through great scenery once we got off the main road - basically the trail is used mostly by guided horse-riding groups, but I much preferred to hike it (but only because I'd need a good few more proper lessons to feel really comfortable on a horse). We passed by small coffee plantations and at one stage as we crossed a small stream we were surrounded by little swarms of beautifully diverse butterflies, and later we had a couple of gorgeous small parrots or parakeets follow us along the trail.
We were blessed with the weather too. The previous day it had been lashing rain for almost our entire bus journey to San Agustin, but for our hike it was dry and nicely hot. It started lightly raining as we approached the town, but by then it was a nicely refreshing.
So the following morning it was another 6am bus, this time passing back past through Popayan and up North to the salsa capital of the world (apparently), Cali.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Popayan
We ended up staying two nights in Popayan, as it's a nice town and it gave us a chance to relax a bit, and also to catch up on the Internet and get my hair cut.
It has a couple of museums, my favorite definitely being the Natural History Museum that had amazing insect and tropical bird displays - the tropical insects really are totally mental, and as for the sword-billed hummingbird, well lets just say that I don't think I'll ever run out of things to add to my list of 'things to see and do in my life'.
Our second day in Popayan happened to be Halloween, and these guys really get into it here, far more than at home anyway. Even at breakfast (in a great little cafe serving local corn patties with melted cheese called arepas) all the staff were dressed up, and by late afternoon the whole town was literally swarming with dressed-up and made-up kids. They have the cool tradition here that all the kids go not from house-to-house, but from shop-to-shop looking for 'treats'. This way they end up with tons of sweats of course, but even still we saw lots of cheeky wee scallywags repeatedly coming into the same cafe. It was also a bit cheeky I thought of parents bringing their new-born infants around looking for lollipops and sweets that the infants could no sooner eat than do a handstand - a good example of basic human nature though I suppose, a free handout being seized apon by one and all.
So after another great, but too huge(!), dinner of local food (a thick maize soup and gorgeous fried pork), we were too wrecked to check out the Halloween festivities in the town, and besides we had to get up at 5am for our bus to the famous site of San Agustin.
It has a couple of museums, my favorite definitely being the Natural History Museum that had amazing insect and tropical bird displays - the tropical insects really are totally mental, and as for the sword-billed hummingbird, well lets just say that I don't think I'll ever run out of things to add to my list of 'things to see and do in my life'.
Our second day in Popayan happened to be Halloween, and these guys really get into it here, far more than at home anyway. Even at breakfast (in a great little cafe serving local corn patties with melted cheese called arepas) all the staff were dressed up, and by late afternoon the whole town was literally swarming with dressed-up and made-up kids. They have the cool tradition here that all the kids go not from house-to-house, but from shop-to-shop looking for 'treats'. This way they end up with tons of sweats of course, but even still we saw lots of cheeky wee scallywags repeatedly coming into the same cafe. It was also a bit cheeky I thought of parents bringing their new-born infants around looking for lollipops and sweets that the infants could no sooner eat than do a handstand - a good example of basic human nature though I suppose, a free handout being seized apon by one and all.
So after another great, but too huge(!), dinner of local food (a thick maize soup and gorgeous fried pork), we were too wrecked to check out the Halloween festivities in the town, and besides we had to get up at 5am for our bus to the famous site of San Agustin.
Pasto, first stop in Colombia
About the only interesting thing on our journey to the Colombian border was what I think was an attempted robbery.
It's a scam we'd been warned about and it's mentioned in the guidebooks too. Basically it's simply a guy getting onto your bus, and telling you where to put your hand luggage - either on the floor under your seat, or on the luggage rack above your head. The scam of course is a mate of that guy sitting behind you either taking your bag, or cutting it open and taking what's in there (one of the bus companies in Peru even hand out a little flyer to every passenger telling them to always hold onto their hand luggage).
So just minutes after we leave the bus terminal in Quito a few people get on the bus and one of them tells Sarah to do just that, i.e. put her bag on the floor. At the same time I noticed another guy sit in the seat directly behind her (the guys were both fairly young, but well dressed and not suspicious looking at all). We both tell the guy the bag is fine where it is, on Sarah's lap, and I turn around in my seat and glare at the guy behind. Within about 3 minutes both guys (and a girl who got on the bus with them) all get off the bus again. All very strange really, and it makes you a little shaky to be honest, although we can't be 100% sure we were going to be robbed (just like we can never be sure we were going to be robbed back in Durban in South Africa), but reassuring to know we still have some wits about us I suppose.
We arrived at the border by early afternoon, so after the very quick passport stamp we get a cheap lunch on the Ecuador side, and use up the last of our Ecuadorian change (they use US dollars for notes, but local coins which are useless outside the country). Then it's a stroll across the bridge and very quick Colombian stamps before having to get a taxi (ggggrrrr!), who of course ripped us off as I hadn't any local currency yet. We get to the bus station (we'd asked the taxi driver if the station had an ATM and he said 'Yes', but of course there wasn't one (although our Spanish is terrible, so maybe...)). So still having to pay in US dollars I got ripped off again getting a bus from the border to a town nearer our intended destination. But we still got to Pasto before dark, and this bus station did have an ATM.
We just stayed in Pasto for one night (Hostel Manhatten, huge nice room, but the shared shower and toilet were a bit dodgey!), having a great dinner in a cool lively local restaurant (La Merced). Afterwards I strolled about the town while Sarah had an early night, and it seemed to have a good bit of life to it (many towns seem deathly quite during the week). The next morning we explored the town a bit and whilst in a cafe trying to decide what to buy for our takeaway breakfast and lunch through very bad Spanish, the waitress turns to a local guy who just came in and who spoke English. It turned out the guy was the owner of the cafe and the owner of the best bar in town, and he'd studied English in Ireland over 20 years ago. Anyway, he was really friendly and kept us chatting for a while, but both our breakfast and lunch on the bus were really delicious (empanadas and a huge tamales).
A few hours later and just before dark we arrived in the town of Popayan, which is the turning off point for one of Colombia's main archeological sites (San Agustin), but also a lovely colonial town in it's own right.
It's a scam we'd been warned about and it's mentioned in the guidebooks too. Basically it's simply a guy getting onto your bus, and telling you where to put your hand luggage - either on the floor under your seat, or on the luggage rack above your head. The scam of course is a mate of that guy sitting behind you either taking your bag, or cutting it open and taking what's in there (one of the bus companies in Peru even hand out a little flyer to every passenger telling them to always hold onto their hand luggage).
So just minutes after we leave the bus terminal in Quito a few people get on the bus and one of them tells Sarah to do just that, i.e. put her bag on the floor. At the same time I noticed another guy sit in the seat directly behind her (the guys were both fairly young, but well dressed and not suspicious looking at all). We both tell the guy the bag is fine where it is, on Sarah's lap, and I turn around in my seat and glare at the guy behind. Within about 3 minutes both guys (and a girl who got on the bus with them) all get off the bus again. All very strange really, and it makes you a little shaky to be honest, although we can't be 100% sure we were going to be robbed (just like we can never be sure we were going to be robbed back in Durban in South Africa), but reassuring to know we still have some wits about us I suppose.
We arrived at the border by early afternoon, so after the very quick passport stamp we get a cheap lunch on the Ecuador side, and use up the last of our Ecuadorian change (they use US dollars for notes, but local coins which are useless outside the country). Then it's a stroll across the bridge and very quick Colombian stamps before having to get a taxi (ggggrrrr!), who of course ripped us off as I hadn't any local currency yet. We get to the bus station (we'd asked the taxi driver if the station had an ATM and he said 'Yes', but of course there wasn't one (although our Spanish is terrible, so maybe...)). So still having to pay in US dollars I got ripped off again getting a bus from the border to a town nearer our intended destination. But we still got to Pasto before dark, and this bus station did have an ATM.
We just stayed in Pasto for one night (Hostel Manhatten, huge nice room, but the shared shower and toilet were a bit dodgey!), having a great dinner in a cool lively local restaurant (La Merced). Afterwards I strolled about the town while Sarah had an early night, and it seemed to have a good bit of life to it (many towns seem deathly quite during the week). The next morning we explored the town a bit and whilst in a cafe trying to decide what to buy for our takeaway breakfast and lunch through very bad Spanish, the waitress turns to a local guy who just came in and who spoke English. It turned out the guy was the owner of the cafe and the owner of the best bar in town, and he'd studied English in Ireland over 20 years ago. Anyway, he was really friendly and kept us chatting for a while, but both our breakfast and lunch on the bus were really delicious (empanadas and a huge tamales).
A few hours later and just before dark we arrived in the town of Popayan, which is the turning off point for one of Colombia's main archeological sites (San Agustin), but also a lovely colonial town in it's own right.
Quito
After a very fustration search for a guidebook recommended hostel (the city has changed it's street numbering system since our guidebook was printed!), there turned out to be nobody answering the door, and so we strolled to the Grand Hotel around the corner. This was a lovely spot, although not very Grand it was clean, central and cheap.
That night we had a great dinner in another nearby, much fancier hotel with rooftop views. The next day was Sunday, and so I decided to head straight up to the town of Otovalo, which is famous for it's Sunday market.
I'm not really into markets, but this one is famous for being one of the biggest in South America, and it really was impressive in scale. The whole town had a nice lively feel to it, and we got to try some lovely roast pork in the market (they roast the entire pig and serve it up from a huge platter, leaving the head facing out to entice customers).
The next couple of days we checked out Quito itself (wasting a good bit of time getting to the Colombian embassy to check out if Irish people need a visa - they don't, but again our guidebooks were out of date, referring to Irish visa requirements after the IRA guys training FARC separatists), strolling around the Old Town and it's museums, and also checking out the bars and restaurants of the New Town.
Our fourth day we did one of the 'must do's' of Quito, a visit to the site of the Equator. After a bit more local-bus-confusion we finally got to the site which is a fair bit outside the city. It was a weekday and so very quite really. The whole place is Government run, and looks to be more setup for a day out for the kiddies, although I thought their Insectarium was very impressive (it has nothing to do with the Equator of course, but it's good for us kiddies). The official site is actually a couple of hundred metres away from the real Equator - apparently the original French scientists got it wrong.
So as we strolled to check out the 'real' Equator site up the road we came across a different museum. We popped in to check it out and it turned out to be a very interesting new project run by a group of guys trying to promote archeological preservation of some recently discovered sights - the main one being an ancient 1500 year-old wall on a very nearby hill that is sited exactly on the real Equator. The spooky bit being, of course, how the ancients knew exactly where the Equator was, and the French scientists less than a hundred years ago getting it wrong.
The guy there was really passionate about the whole subject (they have no Government support, as the official site makes plenty of money right where it is thank you very much!). But it was great to hear him explain their theories and their mission, but then passionate people are always great to listen and talk to, regardless of what they are passionate about. I remember a short video presentation in the Wellington museum in New Zealand that really struck me (I dragged Podge along to watch it too). It was only later that I realised what it was about the video that had struck me so strongly - basically it was just a collage of short video interviews with New Zealanders that did different but interesting things, like sheep farming in a really remote location, or recording sea erosion, or whatever. The common thread was that they were all immensely passionate about what they did, and it was that passion that I found so appealing. It's my favorite question of the moment now - so just what are YOU passionate about???
So anyway, after that presentation we strolled a bit further up the road to the 'real' Equator site, but after the talk we'd just had about exploitation of the Equator, and the ignorance of the genuine ancient history relating to it, and all the silly tricks they do (like balancing an egg on a nail, and watching water 'not' spin round going down a plug hole), we just strolled about the site until someone approached us looking for our entry tickets that we had no intention of buying, and so we just left (but we did get to see a small tour group of people get all excited when they managed to balance an egg on a nail, and of course they had to get photos of each other standing beside their 'achievement' - deary me...).
So back to Quito and a fantastic dinner at one of the cities best restaurants, Theatrum. It was a great setting and a great meal, and a great way to finish off Quito. It was a nice city I have to say, but the next day it was time to get up early and head towards the Colombian border.
That night we had a great dinner in another nearby, much fancier hotel with rooftop views. The next day was Sunday, and so I decided to head straight up to the town of Otovalo, which is famous for it's Sunday market.
I'm not really into markets, but this one is famous for being one of the biggest in South America, and it really was impressive in scale. The whole town had a nice lively feel to it, and we got to try some lovely roast pork in the market (they roast the entire pig and serve it up from a huge platter, leaving the head facing out to entice customers).
The next couple of days we checked out Quito itself (wasting a good bit of time getting to the Colombian embassy to check out if Irish people need a visa - they don't, but again our guidebooks were out of date, referring to Irish visa requirements after the IRA guys training FARC separatists), strolling around the Old Town and it's museums, and also checking out the bars and restaurants of the New Town.
Our fourth day we did one of the 'must do's' of Quito, a visit to the site of the Equator. After a bit more local-bus-confusion we finally got to the site which is a fair bit outside the city. It was a weekday and so very quite really. The whole place is Government run, and looks to be more setup for a day out for the kiddies, although I thought their Insectarium was very impressive (it has nothing to do with the Equator of course, but it's good for us kiddies). The official site is actually a couple of hundred metres away from the real Equator - apparently the original French scientists got it wrong.
So as we strolled to check out the 'real' Equator site up the road we came across a different museum. We popped in to check it out and it turned out to be a very interesting new project run by a group of guys trying to promote archeological preservation of some recently discovered sights - the main one being an ancient 1500 year-old wall on a very nearby hill that is sited exactly on the real Equator. The spooky bit being, of course, how the ancients knew exactly where the Equator was, and the French scientists less than a hundred years ago getting it wrong.
The guy there was really passionate about the whole subject (they have no Government support, as the official site makes plenty of money right where it is thank you very much!). But it was great to hear him explain their theories and their mission, but then passionate people are always great to listen and talk to, regardless of what they are passionate about. I remember a short video presentation in the Wellington museum in New Zealand that really struck me (I dragged Podge along to watch it too). It was only later that I realised what it was about the video that had struck me so strongly - basically it was just a collage of short video interviews with New Zealanders that did different but interesting things, like sheep farming in a really remote location, or recording sea erosion, or whatever. The common thread was that they were all immensely passionate about what they did, and it was that passion that I found so appealing. It's my favorite question of the moment now - so just what are YOU passionate about???
So anyway, after that presentation we strolled a bit further up the road to the 'real' Equator site, but after the talk we'd just had about exploitation of the Equator, and the ignorance of the genuine ancient history relating to it, and all the silly tricks they do (like balancing an egg on a nail, and watching water 'not' spin round going down a plug hole), we just strolled about the site until someone approached us looking for our entry tickets that we had no intention of buying, and so we just left (but we did get to see a small tour group of people get all excited when they managed to balance an egg on a nail, and of course they had to get photos of each other standing beside their 'achievement' - deary me...).
So back to Quito and a fantastic dinner at one of the cities best restaurants, Theatrum. It was a great setting and a great meal, and a great way to finish off Quito. It was a nice city I have to say, but the next day it was time to get up early and head towards the Colombian border.
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